This application claims the priority of German application 198 50 257.5, filed in Germany on Oct. 31, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a disk brake protector for a disk brake, with a friction ring, of a motor vehicle with a perforated rim dish, said dish being mounted directly or indirectly on the steering knuckle or axle housing and covering at least a portion of the disk brake.
In heavy vehicles used on construction sites that carry loose material, for example, only drum brakes have been used on the rear axles. An important reason for this is the problem, unsatisfactorily solved so far, of encapsulating the disk brakes against loose material entering the wheel rim from the front in side dumpers.
A partially covered disk brake is known from German Patent Document No. DE 43 44 051 A1 in which a disk-shaped protective covering is fastened to a non-rotating axle part. The protective covering however is mounted on the side of the wheel that faces the interior of the vehicle, so that it cannot keep loose material entering the wheel or rim dish from the outside of the vehicle out of the brake system. It also has ventilation slots which cannot keep out loose material containing sand, for example.
The present invention addresses the problem of providing a protector for disk brakes that protects a disk brake system, located at least partially in the interior of the rim, from contamination and/or damage caused by dirt entering the interior of the wheel rim from outside.
The problem is solved by preferred embodiments of the present invention by providing a disk brake protector for a disk brake of a motor vehicle wheel having a friction ring, a perforated rim dish, fastened directly or indirectly to a steering knuckle or axle housing and covering at least a part of the disk brake, wherein the disk brake protector is located at least partially in a space between the disk brake and the wheel rim, said protector covering at least a portion of a surface on an outside of the wheel and a radial circumferential surface adjacent the friction ring of the disk brake.
The disk brake protector is located in the space between the disk brake and the wheel rim, covering at least a portion of the friction ring facing the outside of the wheel and the radial circumferential surface.
In certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the disk brake protector is a sleeve-shaped capsule provided at a short distance along the inside contour of the wheel rim. The capsule is fastened to the steering knuckle directly or on one or more non-rotating parts of a disk brake. Between the rotating wheel rim and the fixed capsule there is an annular gap with an approximately constant thickness. Loose material entering this annular gap thus cannot jam between the disk brake and the wheel rim.
The disk brake protector also prevents loose material, wet sand for example, from coming into direct contact with the friction ring of the disk brake. This is an important advantage because, although the sand does not cause jamming, when the vehicle is at rest it accelerates rust formation on the friction ring. In addition, at the first brake application after contamination, the sand adhering to the friction ring is forced into the rubbing surface of the brake pad. In the course of several subsequent brake applications, the sand grains that have been pushed in grind away the friction disk at a rate above average, causing increased wear.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.